DUSHANBE, December 8, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- An official opening of FC Istiqlol (Dushanbe) Football Academy took place in the Almosi settlement, Hisor district yesterday.

The ceremony was attended by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.     

They will operate the academy for boys from the age of twelve upwards.  To-date, 80 boys have been competitively selected, Istiqlol’s official website reports.  The academy is now able to accommodate 140 boys.

Meanwhile, speaking at the academy-opening ceremony, President Rahmon ordered to build one more building and increase the number of boys to 280.

FC Istiqlol (Dushanbe) was established in November 2007.  In 2008, Istiqlol competed in Tajikistan First Division.  The team won all 35 games and qualified for Tajik League.  In 2009, in its debut in the Tajik League, Istiqlol finished fourth. The team had some experienced players some young players mostly from Tajikistan national under-17 football team that won bronze in AFC U-17 Championship 2006 and reached round 16 at 2007 FIFA U-17 World Championship.  In 2009, the Dushanbe-based club won two trophies - the traditional winter-spring tournament Rustam Doltabayev and the National Cup of the Republic of Tajikistan.

In 2010, Istiqlol made a kind of "hat-trick by winning the Super Bowl, the national cup and league in Tajikistan.  Winning the league in Tajikistan in the season-2010, FC Istiqlol for the first time in its history had the right to participate in the CIS Cup and the 2011 AFC President''s Cup.

The two-time champion of Tajikistan, Istiqlol has got the most resounding victory in its history this year.  In the final match of AFC President''s Cup 2012, which was held in Dushanbe''s Central Republican Stadium the team won willed victory over the Palestinian "Al-Ammari" with the score 2-1 and became the holders of the honorary trophy.